Poor sales leads to Nintendo 3DS price slash, and free games

We recently told you that sales of the Nintendo 3DS were remaining slow, and was even being beaten by sales of the older versions of the DS. This was followed by the news that Amazon had temporally suspended sales because of a possible physical defect. Now the news gets worse for the company as poor sales leads to a Nintendo 3DS price slash, and free games to be offered to early owners of the console.

The company has said today that it will drop the price of the console from $250 to $170 to boost sales of the device according to an article on Wired.com. Price cuts will take place across the world from around August 12th according to Nintendo, but it is not known by how much in each region. In the US the device has only shifted 830,000 units since it was first released according to Nintendo.

People who have already purchased the device won’t be left out, as Nintendo have said it will provide downloadable versions of Nintendo Entertainment System classic games via the 3DS eShop. They will offer ten games free from September 1st and include the likes of Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong Jr, amongst others.

There will also offer ten free downloads of Game Boy Advance games that include Mario kart: Super Circuit, Mario vs Donkey Kong, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, and more. Only consumers who have already or plan to purchase before August 12 will get access to the games, as there is no plans to release them to the public.

The announcement came with the company’s latest financial results. Nintendo made an operating loss of around $485 million for the April to June quarter.

The console has been beset with criticism since its release with some people complaining of headaches, and the weak lineup of launch games. Only last week Sega delayed bringing out two upcoming games for the device, with some suggesting low sales were to blame. Capcom had recently decided to scrap the planned Mega Man Legends 3 for the system.

Nintendo do have plans for their own new releases this year though with the likes of Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land promised before Christmas. Trouble is the platform is getting increased competition from the likes of tablet PCs and smartphones for gaming on the move. This will increase further with the upcoming release of the Sony Vita, the replacement for the PSP.

Do you think this price drop will see sales of the Nintendo 3DS finally take off?